Sam Kerr’s glancing header extends Chelsea’s unbeaten run in the WSL on a drizzly afternoon on the south coast.
A first half goal from in-form forward Sam Kerr was enough to clinch the victory for Chelsea in what proved to be a difficult fixture at the People’s Pension Stadium.
Brighton welcomed fans back to their home ground and having won just one of their last seven fixtures in the WSL, the inspirational chorus of fans was an exciting prospect to a team in desperate need of a convincing performance to lift them from ninth place in the league.
Chelsea came into the fixture off the back of a convincing display in the UEFA Women’s Champions League midweek, after cruising to a 5-0 victory over opponents Benfica. Emma Hayes made two changes from the side that started in Europe; Millie Bright returning to the heart of defence in place of Maria Thorisdottir, and Bethany England making way for Scottish international Erin Cuthbert. With Chelsea third in the league with a game in hand over first and second place Manchester United and Arsenal, todays fixture was important in establishing the appearance of the top-half of the table.
Despite being strong favourites coming into this game, Chelsea were given little opportunity to demonstrate their dominance and failed to regularly test Brighton goalkeeper Cecilie Fiskerstrand in the first half, as Hope Powell’s side frustrated the Blues with a compact shape and disciplined defence.
For Chelsea, Erin Cuthbert looked the most dangerous in the first twenty minutes, linking up well with full-back Jonna Andersson and making a number of dynamic runs down the left-hand side to stretch the Seagull’s defence and produce some dangerous crosses into the box.
With Brighton well-drilled in their defensive duties and preventing Chelsea from playing through the middle of the pitch, Chelsea centre-backs, Magdalena Eriksson and Millie Bright became heavily involved in instigating the Chelsea attack as they looked to dictate play from the back and find an avenue through Brighton’s defence.
Despite Brighton dampening Chelsea’s usual creativity, Chelsea’s patience paid off and the deadlock was broken after twenty minutes courtesy of a cleverly worked exchange between Anderson and Harder down the left-hand side of the pitch, resulting in a cross from Harder which was glanced home by Kerr to give the away side the lead.
The second half certainly gave the home fans something to cheer about with Brighton starting brightly and nearly making an instant impact as Inessa Kaagman produced a looping shot from the edge of the box that thumped the Chelsea crossbar and reminded the Blues of Brighton’s continued attacking threat.
Brighton’s desire to find an equaliser ensured the match became a far more open affair as they committed more players forward and increased their tempo. Chelsea had opportunities to seal a two-goal buffer on the counterattack, the most promising coming from the intricate passing between the creative trio of Harder, Kirby and Kerr; Kerr unable to direct it into the back of the net.
Kerr also narrowly missed out on grabbing the headlines with an audacious attempt to lob the Brighton keeper from the halfway line – the ball landing firmly into the hands of the Brighton goalkeeper.
Brighton continued to ask questions of the Chelsea defence and the Blues usual confident backline sustained a period of pressure that highlighted the precarity of a one goal lead.
Despite their desire to search for an equaliser, Brighton were unable to breakdown Chelsea’s defence and the Blues were able to hold onto their 1-0 lead and take all three points back to Kingsmeadow.
The win sees Chelsea leapfrog Arsenal into second place with twenty points and a game still in hand over the rest of the top four. For Hope Powell’s Brighton side, the defeat sees them remain in ninth place in the table on eight points. Next up, Chelsea are back in action in the Champions League as they take on Benfica in the second leg, while Brighton face Reading next Sunday.
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